Minerva: The S54 powered, better than new, E28

[vinceg101]

Question for y'all. Realized I don't have a plan for a fan shroud. What creative ideas do you have?

Off the top of my head, but how different is your radiator to the stock ones for the E46, E39 or E28? One thought is to modify an E46 or E39 but too many questions.

[tig]

I got to sit in Minerva (on the floor), put the key in the ignition, and start the S54 today!


New video here: https://youtu.be/mcy5W_T0Q64

The intake tube will be powder coated matte and the clamps will be black too. It think it'll look great. I was hoping for something that looked more factory, but I think the powder coating will help.




AC lines...


Can haz lights.


Here's what I'm missing and ISO:

- New (or like new) Mouse Fir for front-L and both rear doors.
- A glovebox in fantastic shape. I forgot I used the really great one I had in Maytag and the one I have is sketch.
- Another moonroof. The one we have is bent on one corner. It'll work, but it's not perfect.
- An M5 trunk lid cover and toolkit (the dark grey version).
- Parking / e-brake surround horsehair section for NON-power seat version (I have the surround, just missing the center piece that has the horsehairs).

If you have any of these parts, I'd appreciate hearing from you. As always, ckindel(at)gmail.com.

[muleskinner]

[Ordnator]

I may have a Euro hand brake horsehair surround or two in my stash of parts.

I have converted two of my Etas from manual to electric seats and I have a real problem throwing serviceable parts away that I take off of my cars. Is this a sickness?

I will check the basement tomorrow morning and get back to you.

Regards,

Mick

[tig]

I will check the basement tomorrow morning and get back to you.

Mucho appreciated-o.

[kodachrome]

This is a great thread. I've been pondering engine and gearbox upgrades too. I've read the thread but seem to have missed what specific mods are required to fit the Getrag 420g Ronan e28 transmit tunnel however!

[Ordnator]

I will check the basement tomorrow morning and get back to you.

Mucho appreciated-o.

E-mails x 2 with photographs attached on way.

Regards,

Mick

[Dale3783]

Been thinking about this build a lot lately. We need an update!

Signed,
Everyone.

[vandiesel]

Same here. Charlie how bout it? Some S54 porn pics? Maybe a burnout with hopped up dinan race motor?

[tig]

This'll have to do. I may be able to fondle the car Saturday...

https://www.instagram.com/p/B76qaG0HVrJ ... _copy_link

[vandiesel]

That'll do. I'll pick it up Saturday to drive to Portland. Thanks for getting it done for me!

[stuartinmn]

Most excellent. I can tell you're another member of the more money than brains club. (I am too, although I may not be quite as deep into my car...)

[tig]

Audio. It's happening. I spent way too much time researching and thinking about it and am def spending too much money for an E28, but this car will be my daily driver and I carez about. In the end my thoughts and plans were filtered through 425 Motorsports to Dave at Hoglands in Everett, who did all of the upholstery work. We decided on what's below.

My requirement list looks something like this.

- Hand's free phone with bluetooth.
- Bluetooth for almost every type of sound.
- Great sound. I'm no audiophile (although I pretended to be one once) but I know what I like. I also know the limits of the E28 in this regard. I also know that a solid system can sound pretty darn good (the system the PO put in Vlad).
- Factory/Era look as much as possible.

Head Unit:
The new Blaupunkt SQR 46. I have procured one (thanks Ivo) and while I'm not thrilled about the quality feel, it does look great. Hopefully it sounds and functions fine.






Power Amplifier:
The centerpiece of this install is an AudioControl D-6.1200. https://www.audiocontrol.com/car-audio/ ... s/d-61200/



Small, plenty of power, and low heat output (it's going under the rear seat). Best of all I can nerd out with it as it has a powerful DSP with a PC app for configuration.

Plus AudioControl is a local company and I've loved their stuff long time.

Subwoofer:
Hans, Vlad's PO nailed the subwoofer in that car, as far as I can tell. It's an 8" sub mounted in the center of the parcel tray.



It doesn't intrude into trunk space much, and the install is clean.

I'm doing something similar in Vlad. This time I'm using an Infinity Kappa 800W, which is not as deep as the one in Vlad. We are building a small enclosure for it though.



We're using a stock E28 premium audio grill, modified to not have the sub-woofer ramp. It will retain the BMW SOUND SYSTEM logo. It'll be slightly smaller than the 8" sub-woofer, but that won't impact much.

Rears:
Infinity Kappa 60CSX 6 12/" under stock grills.


Recall rear of this car was butchered by PO, and all old speaker holes were filled in before paint. So we'll be doing some judicious cutting... Glad I have another parts car for them to use as a reference.








Fronts:
Infinity Kappa 64 CFX 4x6" behind stock grills.


The tweeters in these will either be turned off or on depending. That's because there will be another set of tweeters (just OE) in the doors as was stock in for premium sound systems. Wires got crossed between me, 425, and Dave and Dave wasn't aware of the door tweeters until I visited last week. Glad I caught that.

[muleskinner]

I was starting to worry a little about you there....glad to see you're back updating this super badass project. I've always upgraded the audio in my bimmers over the years, but this takes it to a new level.

[M. Holtmeier]

I finally got caught up on this.

Cool build!


Good choice on the Audio Control, let me know how the direct BT works for streaming music.

[tig]

Just got these photos from the audio shop. Right after they sent them they let me know:

Audio shop is being forced to shut the company down for 2-weeks. They are literally locking up shop tonight and everyone is handing him over their keys and they will not let a soul in the buildings for 2-weeks.

But, progress is progress and some of this is pure pr0n. Before anyone else asks, the center speaker housing was hand-made, not 3D printed, so there are not 3D printer files coming...





















Stay safe everyone, and stay distant.

[Tiit]

Good to see it all coming together. I do like the look of that radio.

[vandiesel]

I just installed the Bremen in my M5. My installer is serious in the biz and said it's limited in what it can do. So far I like it OK but it defaults to FM every startup so I have to push source 6 times to get to BT streaming. The other thing that bugs me is that the BT call volume is so low it's not possible to hear someone while driving. I lay no blame to the BB stainless exhaust or the S38 motor either!

[Mike W.]

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. Wow. I know sometimes you opt for the checkbook wrench, but still, wow. I once wanted to buy one of my cars, I think well of the way I keep them up, at least up to the disposable e36/39 era. But yours, damn, I used to want one, but now I know it's way beyond my range. Tip of the hat and a bow, wow, I'm impressed.

[piperbrothers]

...updates...?

[Philo]

Cek, great job on the car and I'm following with great enthusiasm having gone down the S54 road years ago. Looking at the intake tract have you considered the M5 air filter box vs. the stock one ? I originally used a Z3M airbox but didn't like the fit with the E28 chassis so decided to adapt over the M5 box. The howl at WOT with a 4" intake is intoxicating and sets off car alarms.

The parts setup is - E28 M5 box, 4" Split Second intake flange, E34 M5 angle tube, 4" VW MK4 MAF housing, E46 M3 MAF sensor and Samco E46 M3 angle boot that I trimmed to make everything line up properly.

Here's some pics to my setup to stimulate some thought.

Again, great job.

[tig]

Yeah, I considered this. But I'm sticking with the Z3M setup; esp since I had brackets welded to fender wall to make it happen.

I am curious about your electric fans. We're struggling to get a good fan shroud solution. How's the cooling been with electric fans?

-cek

[Philo]

Yup, I also welded on a bracket, which I still need to cut off.

The fan works perfectly although I need to change the cool-down timing. Right now it only stays on for 15sec after engine shutdown. The fan is a two speed unit and we made a custom stainless mounting bracket. Also, the radiator is from the E36M3 which I was told has better cooling. Not sure if this is true or not.

Here's the radiator bracket pics.

[Foonfer]

SAUL GOODMAN but what's the deal with those wheels in the last photos?

[tig]